Wire drawing lubricant and method



Patented Mar. 28, 1939 Mo STATES TEN trio The Ironsides Company,

corporation of' Ohio No Drawing.

Columbus, Ohio, a

Application December 17, 1936,

Serial N0. 116,380

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a novel method of and composition for treating steel rods or wire preparatory to drawing the same through diameter reducing dies, and it is an object of the present invention to provide such rods with an improved coating prior to entering the dies by which metal to metal contact will be minimized. the life of the dies prolonged and scoring or galling of the rods prevented.

The procedure now quite generally. employed in the drawing of steel wire is to immerse the rods, after the latter were first subjected to pickling and washing baths, in a suspension of lime in water. This is commonly followed by bakingthe lime-coated rods for a period of several hours at temperatures of the order of 250 to 350 F. After being so treated, the rods are ready for drawing and this operation consists, as commonly practiced, in drawing the rod through a die or a series of dies, the first of which being set in a box or casing containing soap compounds in a dry powdered form which are sometimes admixed with various proportions of lime. The soap powder acts in the capacity of a lubricant by adhering to the lime-coated rod, and, according to some authorities, when a water soluble soap powder is used, the latter reacts chemically with the lime, producing a lime soap which serves as a lubricant at the rod-die interface.

metal to metal contact and consequent galling or scoring.

In accordance with the present invention, I have improved the customary method of treating positing a lubricant on the steel rod or wire simultaneously with the step of immersing the same in the suspension of lime in water, whereby to produce a more uniform coating of the lubricant and to bond the lubricant more securely to the rod than can be obtained by merely passing such a rod through a body of loose and dry soap powder.

The dispersion of lubricants in a finely divided state in water for useas wire drawing lubricants has been employed heretofore. Oil and fat emulsions, or dispersions of wax-like substances are also in common use. However, conventional wire drawing lubricant dispersions involving common be admixed with the lime bath without precipitating the dispersion or emulsifying agent and rendering the dispersion unstable or unsuitable for the purposes set forth. I have discovered II that certain substances or compounds are ca- At any rate, this operation tends to minimize steel rod prior to the drawing thereof by dewater soluble soaps as dispersing agents cannot pable of being successfully used as dispersing agents and are compatible with saturated lime water containing an appreciable percentage of suspended lime. These substances or compounds may, therefore, be used to stabilize or 5 prevent the agglomeration of particulate lubricating materials in the lime bath. A coil of steel rod dipped in a lime bath containing dispersed lubricant stabilized by these substances receives a deposit of lubricant as well as lime, the deposit being in such quantities as to adequately supply lubrication to the rod during its passage through the drawing die and, moreover, the coating has been found to be so adherent that the wire may be drawn through several dies.

Certain proteins, notably casein, are good dispersing agents when combined with lime. In this regard I have employed soy bean meal (mainly protein) as a dispersing agent to stabilize finely divided lubricants in lime and water suspensions. Bentonite has also been satisfactorily used for the same purpose. The preferred lubricants are those which do not react with lime to form a coagulated or lumpy product which may separate from the body of the lime bath. The temperature of the lime bath is usually quite high so that lubricants reactive with lime are likely to react with according rapidity.

Calcium soaps, however, do not react with hot lime suspensions, and when stably dispersed, make splendid lubricants for the purposes herein indicated. Certain waxes, notably paraffin .wax, have beendispersed satisfactorily in lime suspensions as lubricants for drawing steel rods and wire.

By way of illustration, and to indicate compounds which I have used satisfactorily in carrying out the present invention, the following examples of specific formulae are offered, the same setting forth several examples of concentrated lubricant pastes which have been stably dispersed in lime suspensions:

Example No; 1

' Parts Sulfate ester of fatty alcohols (such as lauryl and oleyl alcohols) Tallow 20 Water 20 steel rod preparatory to drawing. This sulfate ester, as used in Example 1, is compatible with lime suspensions, that is, it is not precipitated or rendered ineffective as a dispersing agent for the tallow.

Example No; 2

Parts Calcium soap made from tallow (principally calcium stearate) 1 Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether 5 Example N0. 3

Parts Calcium soap (made by adding calcium chloride to a water solution of potassium soap) '7 Potassium soap 3 Water 30 Corn starch 2 In this last-named example, the mixture of the materials specified was thoroughly Worked in order to disperse the calcium soap in the water phase. 3% of this paste was dispersed in a 6% lime-water suspension to produce a satisfactory lubricant bath.

Example No. 4

. Parts Tallow 15.00 Caustic soda 2.13 Water 15.00

The tallow was completely saponifled and water of evaporation was replaced.

Parts Calcium chloride 2.80 Water 3.00

This solution was added to the above paste to form the calcium soap. This was stirred to a smooth paste.

Parts Water 20.00 Quicklime -1 3.75 Soy bean meal 1.06

This mixture was prepared separately (the quicklime was first added to the water followed by the addition of the soy bean meal. This was added to the above combination and the whole stirred till smooth.

The final product of Example'4 was added to different percentages (3 to 6%) to the lime bath to form a bath which deposits the desired lubricant coating on the rods.

Example N0. 5

fiarts' Stearic acid .10 Zinc oxide 1 Aqua ammonia suflicient to disperse-the six-hove Water 30 In the latter example, volatilization of the ammonia was largely efiected to form a dispersion efilcient medium for coating steel wire or rods in a more uniform and satisfactory manner than has been attained through prior agencies. The

invention dispenses with the use of the customary soap powder receiving container of the usual drawing machine and permits of the simultaneous application of lime and the lubricant to the wire or rods. The lime used in the bath is preferably that grade known commercially as Glen Falls, New York, lime, although of course other deposits may be used. Also, the wire or rods following the customary pickling and washing operations may be allowed torust prior to being immersed in the lime-lubricant bath in order to acquire what is known in the art as a sull coat.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood thereby, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible in view of the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. A compound for treating steel wire or rod preparatory to a die drawing operation thereon, comprising a liquid body having uniformly dispersed therein lime, a protein dispersing agent and 'a lubricant.

2. The method of treating wire for die drawing which consists in the single step of coating the same in a lime bath-containing a lubricant which will not react with lime to form a coagulated or lumpy product capable of readily separating from the body of lime bath, and a dispersing agent admixed with said lubricant, said dispersing agent being compatible with saturated lime water containing an appreciable percentage of suspended lime.

3 A composition for coating metal which is to be submitted to a drawing operation in the manufacture of wire, comprising a stabilized dispersion of a fatty acid soap in a lime and water suspension.

4. A composition for coating metal which is to be submitted to a drawing operation in the manufacture of wire, comprising a stabilized dispersion of calcium soap in a lime and water suspension.

5. The method of treating steel wire or rod in die-drawing thereof which consists in the steps of pickling the same, coating the pickled rod with a stabilized lubricant dispersion in a lime and water suspension, and then die-drawing the coat ed material.

6. A composition for coating metal which is to be submitted to a drawing operation in the manufacture of wire, comprising a stabilized dispersion of finely divided lubricant in a lime and water suspension, which dispersion has been stabilized with a protein stabilizing agent.

7. A composition for coating metal which is to be submitted to a drawing operation in the manufacture of wire, comprising a stabilized dispersion of finely divided lubricant in a lime and water suspension, which dispersion has been stabilized by a sulphate ester of a fatty alcchol.

ROBERT C. WILLIAMS. 

